YES on dvd

Popped into the new Ultimate Electronics this weekend and noticed they were playing a YES concert on all the Plasma Flat Screens. Anyone know if there is a YES DVD out, or was this some other HD content? It looked to be a recent performance (within last several years). Looked fantastic don’t know about the sound quality since it was competing with about two dozen other programs blasting from other areas of the store.

I am betting that it is the House of Blues performance you are talking about. I don't own it yet, but Jeff Ulmer (an HTF member) gives a review here. http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=335
The only other title that I could thing of would be Keys of Ascencion (1996).
Good luck!

There's also An Evening of Yes Music, but good luck trying to find it, and be prepared to spend some big bucks if you do.

They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!
- Napoleon XIV

There are a couple other Yes discs out there, but they are out of print. Image released Live In Philadelphia in 1999 and Yessongs in 1997, which has a pretty muddy transfer. I believe both are out of print. I also did a review of Keys To Ascension .
For another rarity, Image also released the Anderson Wakeman Bruford Howe disc, which like Live In Philadelphia, I neglected to buy when they were available (priced at only $45CAN at the time).

Supporter

Of the 2 that are still readily available, the "House of Yes" disc is clearly the winner. Video, audio, and performance quality are all top notch.
"Keys To Ascension" features the "classic" lineup of Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman, and White. It is a good disc on all fronts except be aware that there is heavy use of overlays and other video "tricks" that IMO come across as amateurish and really detract from the program.
I have the OOP "Yessongs" disc. Yes, the transfer leaves much to be desired, but then again it looks exactly as I remember it from the many midnight showings I attended in the 70s. Definitely worth it as a nostalgia piece!
My brother has the "Live In Philadelphia" disc. It's main drawback is its length - less than 40 minutes, I believe.
I would kill to get my hands on the ABWH disc.

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Three truths about movies, as noted by Roger Ebert:

* It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
* No good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough.
* No good movie is depressing, all bad movies are depressing.

You'd think that with Steven Soderbergh's current wave of success, someone would wise up and re-release "Yes - 9012LIVE" on DVD. Somebody filched my VHS and I miss it.

Well, good news. There are plans for 90125 to be released. GO here and click on 'news'.
I'm very fortunate to have pristine copies of ABWH and YESSONGS as well as LIVE IN PHILADELPHIA. THe latter 2 are murky looking indeed but I consider them jewels in my collection.
I believe there is a laser available of YES AT QUEENS PARK 1976 but I'm not sure. I have it on vhs. The quality is bootleg but man what a great concert. The entire RELAYER album was performed as well as RITUAL from TALES among others. I'd love to have this on dvd in spite of the bad quality.
YES has a new album entitled MAGNIFICATION which, in my opinion, is some of the best new material they have done since the 70's. There are plans for a dvd release of that tour as well. Can't wait.

"Keys To Ascension" features the "classic" lineup of Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman, and White.

I happen to think that the "classic" lineup is one w/ Bill Bruford on drums. After all, he plays on arguably their three most memorable records -- "The Yes Album", "Fragile" and "Close to the Edge" (as well as Yessongs) and has a style that's way more interesting than Alan White.

I own four Yes DVD's:
Yessongs
Keys to Ascension
House of Yes
ABWH - An Evening of Yes Music Plus (Image)
All are worth owning (except maybe Keys to Ascension), but ABWH is my favorite because the image and sound are both excellent, and it includes my favorite lineup of Yes (except for Chris Squire, though - what a shame. On this show, Jeff Berlin plays bass, although I believe Tony Levin played for most of the ABWH tour. Man I would've loved to see that.) They play many of the best Yes songs, but also play a few ABWH songs (which I like, but if you are not familiar with them you may not enjoy).
For overall quality, House of Yes is the best, but it is not my favorite lineup (Igor Khoroshev? Please.) Definitely worth picking up though as there is a good selection of classic songs, although the smaller venue of the House of Blues hinders, IMHO.
Keys to Ascension is a big pile of crap. Great lineup (while not my fave, I consider this the classic lineup). Great songs. But it is destroyed by horrible video overlays and effects and everything else a third grader could throw at it. You never feel like you are really watching a concert. I kept hoping the effects would disappear after a while, but even two hours into the show they were still there. I was so looking forward to this disc but was extremely disappointed.
Yessongs, my sentimental favorite. My favorite lineup (with Squire!) back in the peak of their popularity when their best albums were still new. The video quality is not very good, the sound is not great, but the disc is well worth it to see this band in its heyday (and to see Rick Wakeman's glorious cape!).
I did not buy Live in Philadelphia because it was only 40 minutes and was similar to some of these. I wouldn't worry if you missed it.
-Brett

I thought you said your favorite lineup consisted of Bruford on drums. YESSONGS was filmed entirely with Alan White on drums unlike the album which had Bruford only on a few selected tracks.

It's certainly subjective as to which drummer is the 'definitive' drummer for YES. Some say Bruford because he was there in the early days when YES were at their peak. However, I consider White to be just as good a drummer as Bruford but with a completely different style. Bruford was a jazz drummer all the way while White has more of a rock style.

It could be said that GOING FOR THE ONE was the best album YES ever did. I can't imagine anyone else but Alan White playing songs like AWAKEN or TURN OF THE CENTURY.

As far as KEYS TO ASCENSION is concerned, I agree the video overlays are completely annoying (minus the occasional Roger Dean album cover) but the sound and picture quality as well as the song listing make this disc well worth having. I heartily reccommend that one. If you are a die hard YES fan, KEYS is a must for your collection.

I agree that the video effects really screwed up Keys, but the classic lineup (though I'm a Bruford fan myself), song lineup and extras are great to have.
As for House of Yes, Igor tries, but there is no match for the caped one. If only we could get footage from the Close To The Edge or Tales of Topographic Oceans tour - that would be awesome.
I saw AWBH at our Coloseum concert bowl, basically the stage on the (hockey) goal line facing the boards. That was great, about 30 feet away from the stage. The Union tour would also be cool, especially in quad, since that was an "in the round" tour, and had all the key players.

Jeff, do you mean the 1991 "Union" tour? I saw Yes during that tour, and was very impressed. There is a DVD, but it's region X (whatever Japan is). I have it, it's NTSC with an SCMS copy protected PCM track. A fine DVD.

I have the ABWH LaserDisc and it's stunning. Levin played most of the tour, true, but for a while he was sick and in the hospital! Berlin played with Bruford in some Jazz bands in the late 70s/early 80s, so when ABWH needed a bass player they called Bruford's old buddy Jeff. If you watch the show you can see Jeff and Bill having a great time playing together. Jeff Berlin got the call three days before the taping, he learned all those Squire and Levin (for the ABWH stuff) bass lines in three days. A very impressive achievement if you ask me (I'm a bass player). Berlin is a top notch bassist, and was definitely in good company for that show.

Gosh, how pristine can Yessongs really be? I have it and the video and sound really leaves a lot to be desired. The performance, however, is absolutely fantastic. This is my favorite period for the band. These versions of "And You and I" and "Heart of the Sunrise" are absolute classics (even though "Heart of the Sunrise" is not on the DVD, but it is on the Yessongs live album).